Harry Potter and the Curse of the Red Carnelian
by Warriorwitch
Summary: This takes place after Harry Potter's 4th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Join Harry and Co. in a magical, mysterious adventure involving a blood red stone....and a mysterious woman. All characters except Celestine and Alexis De Meara
1. Default Chapter

It was dark and cold in the Forbidden Forest. Branches whipped past her, scratching her face, tangling her hair. She didn't feel them.  
  
"Sirius, where are you?" she yelled out. Her only response were evil cackles. They seemed to resound all over the place: earth, sky, trees.  
  
She stopped a moment to catch her breath, closed her eyes and tried to focus. "Sirius?" she whispered to herself. She felt nothing for a few seconds. Her brow creased in concentration. Suddenly, a direction presented itself to her. She sprinted towards it, not stopping until she caught sight of his ripped robes. Celestine gasped and squealed to a halt, seeing the deep gash in his forehead.  
  
"Sirius!" Celestine cried, starting toward where he lay on the dark grounds.  
  
A Death Eater came out and waved his wand at her. "I think that's far enough."  
  
Celestine stopped her advance towards Sirius. He lay bleeding on the ground, the remaining Death Eater's slowly coming out to surround him with their wands. Desperation crawled up her throat. She swallowed hard, determined not to cry in front of them. Instead, she stared at Sirius, trying to catch his eye and perhaps confer some of her strength to him. But he lay there on the ground, unconscious. A Death Eater kicked him, and he groaned. A whimper escaped her, despite herself.  
  
"Nooowww," Voldemort hissed, his snaky, spitting accent sending chills up Celestine's spine. "Are you ready to give me what I asked for? Or do we have to negotiate further?" At that, another Death Eater kicked him, harder this time. He groaned again.  
  
Celestine tried to get her breathing under control. "I'll give you anything you ask for . Just let him go."  
  
"No can do, Celesssstine," Voldemort hissed, coming forward to stroke her face with his thin, pale claw that passed for a hand. She repressed the urge to vomit as the cold, dead thing touched her flesh. "You know what I need. Now you have only one option, if you want to see him alive again."  
  
Her eyes blurred. Voldemort smiled evilly. Celestine's hands fumbled for the red stone that hung around her neck. She gripped it tightly, unwilling to let it go. Then she ripped it from her neck, holding it up for the Death Eaters and Voldemort to see. The silver chain dangled, broken, from her hand. "OK, now you have it. Now let him go."  
  
Voldemort laughed, a cold, slithering hiss. It made Celestine shudder uncontrollably. She suddenly realized why she hated snakes so much.  
  
Voldemort twitched his hand, and the Death Eaters backed away from Sirius. Celestine longed to rush to him, to heal his wounds and fly them out of there, but she held firm. It wouldn't do for Voldemort to see her lose control.  
  
"Give it to me!" he hissed, stretching out his hand. The Death Eaters advanced towards her, now, with wands outstretched. In an instant, Celestine understood that once Voldemort had the jewel, he wouldn't let them leave the grounds alive.  
  
Maybe, just maybe, she could at least make sure one left here alive....  
  
She took a deep breath. Voldemort's face was a picture of pure rage, sure that her hesitance was an attempt to defy him. The Death Eaters smirked at this, wands at the ready, desperate to satisfy their large appetite for destruction.  
  
She felt the light build, suddenly, and knew at that moment that her plan would work. She just hadn't expected to make such a big sacrifice. As she filled with the white-gold glow, she could see the Death Eaters and Voldemort start to tremble.  
  
"GIVE IT TO ME!" came the strangled hiss.  
  
"This stone, forced from my hand, " she intoned, "I beg, rise up and stand, suffer no user after me, to use it freely. From this day, I curse, all who coerce, all magics from this gem!"  
  
"NNOOO!!!" Voldemort screamed, as the light shot out from her to strike several Death Eaters. Many choked and staggered, dropping their wands. Celestine used the opportunity to fling the stone away from her, and run quickly to Sirius. She scooped him up, using what little magic was left to her to fly both of them to the far end of the field, where his wand lay.  
  
He stirred and woke. "Celestine?" he said groggily, groping for her hand as she lay the wand in it. "What's happening?"  
  
Celestine kissed him on the forehead, and his wound disappeared. "Take it and Apparate out of here. We don't have much time."  
  
"OK," he said, still grasping her hand. She pulled away. He looked at her with alarm. "Celestine? We've got to go!"  
  
"You've got to go. Protect James, Lily and their boy for me, ok? "  
  
"No! Not without you!" He grasped her arms, as the shouts and lighted wands of the Death Eaters could be heard and seen charging across the field, near where they lay.  
  
"I can't, Sirius," she eluded his grasp, backing away from him. "Don't argue! I'll be along later."  
  
Hope gleamed in his eyes. "You will?"  
  
Celestine's throat choked up. "I will."  
  
"Well then, why didn't you say so?" he said, then disappeared.  
  
Celestine let the tears fall down her face for the first time that evening. She was cursed now - no longer what she was. There was no going back. The Elders would have no choice but to declare her condemned by first cursing a sacred object, then by lying to the man she loved. But she hardly had time for such thoughts. "Kill her!" a voice shouted behind her. Celestine barely had time to turn around when a green light streaked towards her.  
  
It was the last thing she saw. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One  
  
Bang, bang, bang!  
  
"Wake up! Either you go to the bathroom now, or hold your bladder until tonight! No skin off my nose, boy, what you do!"  
  
Harry groaned as the voice of Uncle Dursley startled him awake. He had been having a pleasant dream, too. Groggily, he leaped out of bed, grabbed his glasses and jumped through his bedroom door just before Uncle Dursley slammed it shut.  
  
His solitary confinement had not been his fault. If summers at the Dursleys had been difficult before, they were now intolerable. He spent most of the summer trying to find a spot outside where he could sit and think in private, but with no luck. Dudley always found him and some new way to torture him. One time, he yanked Harry up out of the bushes by his collar and threw him up in a tree. It had been so far up that it took Harry most of the day to climb back down - only to have Aunt Petunia yell at him for his 'carelessness' and assign him a dozen chores before bedtime, one of them cleaning the toilet. After the whole family used it.  
  
Another time, Harry had been caught off-guard and didn't notice Dudley and his Smeltings classmates over for the day. It wasn't long before he was being chased to exhaustion all over the house. He literally fell asleep in the backyard - only to wake up to the smell of smoke and the sound of chuckling. Dudley and his pea-brain cronies had decided it would be great fun to light his shoes on fire. The smell of burning rubber STILL lingered in his nostrils from time to time, Harry remembered as he shuddered while brushing his teeth.  
  
But that wasn't the worst of it. In trying to put out the fire by stomping his feet - standing up hadn't been easy - he accidently ignited the freshly- laid sod in the Dursley's backyard. Two hundred pounds of the their investment went up in flames in a matter of minutes. The kicker was, he couldn't even tell the backyard was on fire until it was too late, not with all the smoke already flooding his nostrils.  
  
To say the Dursleys hadn't been happy was an understatement. Harry dimly remembered the threats and curses that rained on his head as he was being dragged up the stairs and thrown into his room by Uncle Dursley. They'd been barely noticeable amid the din and confusion of the fire trucks screaming up the street, Aunt Petunia's wails and Dudley's screams of terror. Harry had watched as the fire men, in their zeal to contain the flames, flooded the entire backyard with water. Even now, as Harry finished his morning ablutions and shuffled quickly out of the bathroom, he could see sunlight glinting off the makeshift lake that now rippled in the backyard.  
  
Yes, that had been the worst thing to happen to him to date. Harry shook his head as Uncle Dursley once again slammed the door behind him and locked it. Relieved to be by himself for the time being, he got dressed and opened his bedroom window, looking for signs of Hedwig. No luck. Shrugging, he left the window open and stretched out on his bed.  
  
Harry tried to forget about the fire and focused on his dream instead. It had been extremely beautiful and very comforting, though he couldn't--for the life of him--understand why. The most he'd been able to remember were a bunch of strange, multi-colored lights and the sound of whispering. He shook his head. He'd been having a lot of those dreams, lately. Because the content of them hadn't been overtly threatening - on the contrary, they'd had an extraordinarily comforting effect on his psyche - they worried him, nonetheless. Harry wasn't sure they weren't a part of Voldemort's plots to kill him. He'd had enough experience with dreams last year to know they weren't as harmless as he used to think.  
  
He sighed and rolled over on his bed. He was completely bored. Since he'd been exempted from finals last year, he'd also been given no homework to do over the summer. That left him with absolutely nothing to do but go over the memories of his 4th year at Hogwarts. Some memories he'd rather forget...  
  
He was interrupted from his reverie by a small white flash. "Hedwig!" Harry greeted enthusiastically, as she dropped 2 letters in his lap. He tore them open eagerly. The first one was from Hogwarts. He read:  
  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
Due to the nature of the unfortunate and regrettable events that happened during the Hogwarts Tri-Wizard Tournament, the Ministry of Magic has decreed that it be safer for you to stay the remainder of the summer at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, under the supervision of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards).  
  
A Ministry of Magic car will arrive on July 1st at 12:oo pm at the 4 Privet Drive residence. Please have all your stuff packed and ready to go.  
  
Sincerely, Cornelius Fudge  
  
"Holy squat!" Harry swore. "TODAY'S July 1st!"  
  
He checked the clock on his nightstand - the one Dudley tried to use to wake him up one morning by chucking it at his head. It read 11:36 am.  
  
Quickly, Harry threw the letter on the bed and dragged out his trunk. He raced around the room, throwing things into it, not caring where they landed. Hedwig squawked angrily at being jerked awake from her nap from all the noise. "I'm sorry, Hedwig," Harry apologized, "but we have to leave soon, and I've got nothing ready! Where's my wand?" he asked himself frantically, prying up the loose floorboards underneath his bed. Finding it, he breathed a sigh of relief and chucked it inside with all his other things and slammed the lid shut.  
  
Just in time, too. Harry could hear the sounds of splashing stop - Dudley and his school buddies now used the lake as a swimming hole on a regular basis. Uncle Vernon started cursing as he heard the doorbell ring. Looking out his window, Harry could see a long, black car parked out front, with two men standing at the front door. They wore black suits - much more elegant than the kind that Harry saw Uncle Vernon wear to the office - and black sunglasses. He frowned, suddenly feeling more apprehensive about the trip.  
  
Downstairs, Harry heard Uncle Vernon stomp towards the front door and rip it open. "Yeah?" he barked.  
  
"We've come to pick up Harry Potter, sir."  
  
Uncle Vernon looked suspicious. "And who might you be?"  
  
"We're from the Ministry of Magic."  
  
Harry leaned so far out the window that he almost fell. But he still managed to see Uncle Vernon's face turn purple with rage. "THERE'S NO HARRY POTTER LIVING HERE!" he yelled, slamming the door in the two men's faces. Harry saw them jump in surprise, then start back towards their vehicle, mumbling under their breath.  
  
Harry felt frantic. "PPPPSSTTTT!!" he hissed loudly.  
  
The two men jerked. They turned and saw him and looked at him quizzically.  
  
"Wait for me, ok?" Harry whispered loudly. The two men looked mystified, but one of them nodded.  
  
Harry quickly closed the window and plopped on his bed just as Uncle Vernon burst into his room. As usual, he looked furious.  
  
"Have you been sending letters out with that durn owl of yours, boy?!?" he yelled. Hedwig fluffed her wings indignantly and squawked. Harry urged her to be quiet.  
  
"No." he replied, a bit sullen.  
  
"You better not! Or that owl will be breakfast tomorrow!" He threatened, before slamming the door again. Hedwig squawked even louder this time, giving Harry the evil eye.  
  
"I'm sorry!" he said, grabbing his trunk and dragging it to the window. "You know how he gets when he hears about the wizarding world."  
  
Harry opened his window again and peered out. He could hear sounds of splashing coming from the back. The two black-suited men were now standing beneath his window. "Uh - how can I get my stuff down there? I'm locked in this room," he told the black suits.  
  
"Just throw it out the window. We'll catch it."  
  
Harry looked doubtful. "You sure?"  
  
"Sure we're sure. Throw it!"  
  
"Alright, then," Harry said doubtfully, heaving his trunk through the window.  
  
He wasn't sure how they did it. One minute they were staring up at this big heavy object falling at them. The next, they had it sitting gently on the ground.  
  
One guy held out his arms. "Jump," he said.  
  
Harry blinked. "Wait a minute!" He ran, grabbed Hedwig's cage, and set it on the sill. "We're going to Hogwarts. Meet me there, ok?" he instructed Hedwig, fumbling open the lock. Hedwig flew out, giving him her best glare. Then he threw the cage down.  
  
Once again, Harry blinked - and the cage was sitting upright on the trunk. He scratched his head, confused.  
  
They held out their arms to him. "Jump!" they ordered.  
  
"If you say so," Harry mumbled. Taking a deep breath, he swung his leg over the sill, then the other. He hesitated on the window sill for a moment, looking down at the two-story jump he was about to make. The men still had their arms up.  
  
"Tally-ho!" he whispered, then slid his bottom over the sill.  
  
As with the other items, Harry hardly managed to blink before the men had him in their arms and were setting him gently on the ground. Utterly amazing- he hadn't even felt his stomach twinge. "How'd you guys do that?" he demanded.  
  
One black suit cracked a smile. "We have fast reflexes," he replied. Harry grinned.  
  
All of a sudden, Harry heard the splashing noises stop again. "Oh no," he groaned.  
  
The two men looked at the front door. "We've gotta go," one said.  
  
"Yes, we do," the other replied. With that, both men picked up his trunk, Hedwig's cage and himself and swept all three into the car. Before he knew it, Harry was sitting in the black-leather interior of the back seat when Uncle Vernon crashed through the front door.  
  
"OH NO YOU DON'T!!" he roared, thundering after the car. Harry merely laughed at the sight of Uncle Vernon stomping around in his swim trunks, fat belly quivering along with his cheeks.  
  
The black suits sat in the back with him. One pressed something on his collar and said, "Step on it, Fern."  
  
With that, Harry saw the outside flash by in a whirl of color. The only thing he could see clearly was Uncle Vernon shaking his fist at them, as Aunt Petunia, Dudley and his Smeltings gang ran outside to watch. 


	3. Chapter Two

It was going to be difficult.  
  
It came to her as more feeling than thought. Or maybe both. Alexis couldn't tell. But she knew her instincts were in great shape, and she knew, before she even walked into Fudge's office, that whatever he would ask of her would be very difficult indeed.  
  
Alexis entered Fudge's office at her usual brisk pace and plopped down in the first seat in the back row. She swung her long legs on the chair in front of her, to discourage anyone sitting there. She knew Fudge would give her disproving looks for this, probably hold her back afte the meeting to chew her out, but she didn't care. She needed her space, and she was in no mood for small talk this morning.  
  
Fudge was seated at the desk. True to form, he frowned and gestured for her to put her feet down as her co-workers filed in. She hid her smile behind a yawn, and kept her feet where they were.  
  
Fudge frowned deeper, but let it slide. Alexis smiled again, relishing getting her own way over the Boss.  
  
"Alright folks," Fudge began, "this one's pretty simple. We have only one objective this time."  
  
"Only one?" an agent snorted sarcastically from the middle row. The rest of the department laughed, Alexis included. Fudge frowned at them again, and adjusted his reading glasses.  
  
"Yes. Only one." He replied sharply. The whole room suddenly became quiet. Fudge rarely snapped, not to the "elite" crew -- them -- at least. "I don't care how you do it," he continued, "but your number one objective right now is to find and contain the Red Carnelian."  
  
Alexis's feet jerked, knocking the chair over with a loud crash. Fudge really glared at her this time, as the whole room turned around to stare. "Sorry!" she said sheepishly, righting the chair and sitting back down.  
  
"What is the Red Carnelian?" someone from the front row asked. Fudge simply stared at him for a long time, without answering. The whole room began shifting in their seats uncomfortably. Alexis knew that whatever it was, had to be bad enough for Fudge to act so out of character at the office.  
  
"That is not your concern," Fudge finally snapped at the agent. "Your objective is to find it! You'll be given necessary pictures of the item, so you can retrieve it. Buses leave in approximately one hour. I suggest you memorize and destroy those photos in that time period. That's it. See you in an hour."  
  
Alexis got up shakily from her seat. The Red Carnelian? Had Fudge finally lost it? Judging from the way the rest of the agents left the room, murmuring, Alexis guessed that they felt the same way.  
  
"Hey, Fudge!" Alexis called, approaching his desk. He looked up from his papers and gave her an odd stare--like he was X-raying her or something. It made her shiver. "Yes, Alexis?" he replied.  
  
Alex shook herself. "What's the deal with this case? The Red Carnelian? Don't you know that it's--"  
  
"Cursed, Agent De Meara?" Fudge said frostily. Alexis was taken aback by his tone. "Yes, I know it's cursed," he said drily, "isn't that the Ministry's job? To deal with cursed objects?"  
  
"Yes, sir. But--"  
  
"No 'buts', Agent De Meara," Fudge interrupted. "My job is to assign the tasks. Your job is to follow orders. Is that clear?"  
  
Alexis was shocked. "Yes, sir," she finally replied.  
  
"Good." Fudge said, and went back to his papers. Alexis stood looking at him for a moment, not quite believing what had just transpired. Fudge looked up again."That will be all, Agent De Meara," Fudge said tightly.  
  
"What? Oh - yes, sir," Alexis said, turning her heel sharply and stalking out the door.  
  
Outside, the whole office was bedlam. Agents swarmed all over the place, talking to both themselves and each other...  
  
"Can you believe the size of this thing?" "Look at how RED it is...." "HOW are we going to explain this to the Headmaster?!? Doesn't he hate us, or something??" "The grounds of this place are huge. How are we ever going to find it?" "What crawled up Fudge's bottom and died?!" "Did he seem uber-stressed to you too?" "How could he seem anything else? He looked like someone left the hanger in his shirt when he put it on this morning!"  
  
Alexis let the turmoil swirl over and around her. As soon as she got back to her desk, she took out the manilla envelope and reached in for its contents. Her hands shook a bit when the first thing she pulled out was a photo of the Red Carnelian itself.  
  
She simply stared at it. She was too shocked to do anything else. It seemed to glow on paper, a big ugly oozing crimson. A lot like blood, she thought sadly. She plopped down in her desk chair and sighed. A wave of nostalgia washed over her and, putting aside the picture of the stone for a moment, she took out a couple framed photos she kept locked in her desk drawer at all times.  
  
Hard to believe she'd be going back there. It had been, what? Fifty years? How time flies, she thought wryly. She wasn't sure how she was going to deal with all the memories that would surely come up once she was there. She'd tried to avoid the place for so long. Her fingers gently brushed over the more recent photo of a young boy -- a young man, really -- standing with 3 other magic students. His faded-red scar zipped down the middle of his forehead, and his glasses looked like they needed cleaning. Alexis smiled at this.  
  
Will he remember me at all? The thought came unbidden to her mind. Shocked, she quickly turned the photo face-down on her desk and stared at her cubicle wall in front of her. Oh gawd! He was going to meet her! Why didn't I think of this before? she thought frantically, wondering what to do.  
  
"HEY ALEX! GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR! LOADING'S IN FIVE MINUTES!"  
  
Jumping, Alexis swept her arm over the photos, dumping them back into the drawer and locking it. "I'M COMING!" she shouted back, grabbing her file, making doubly sure the drawer was locked on her way out.  
  
She'd handle that bridge when she crossed it. For now, she had other business to attend to.  
  
********************************************* ***********************************************  
  
Had the lights been on, and someone left working at their desks, they would've seen the silent apparition. But no one was there, and thus, no one noticed the dark figure sliding down the empty department an hour after everyone had left.  
  
It glided smoothly, softly, making no noise. It stopped abruptly at Alexis's desk, head turning sharply, as if it suddenly smelled what it was looking for. Swooping down, the figure pointed its finger at the drawer. It popped open, and the figure withdrew the two framed photos.  
  
If the place had been lit, and if anyone had been there, they would've seen a very strange, cold smile light up the stranger's face. Its eyes glowed red for a moment, almost in esctasy, as it held the photos to its bosom.  
  
Then the photos disappeared inside the cape, as the creature slided back down the hallway as quickly and silently as it came, leaving her drawer open in her cubicle. 


	4. Chapter Three

"Wake up, Mr. Potter. We're almost there."  
  
Harry jerked awake, his eyes foggy. "Wha....? Where are we?" he yawned.  
  
"Almost at Hogwarts, sir." said one of the black suits.  
  
Harry was wide awake now. Putting on his glasses, he looked out the window of the black car, and saw the familiar silhouette of Hogwarts castle against the night sky. "We flew all the way here?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"Mr. Fudge and Professor Dumbledore thought it safer for you, sir."  
  
Harry peered through the tinted glass windows as the car circled near the Forbidden Forest. He was purely amazed at the silent speed of the car - he could barely feel it as it landed and pulled gently to a stop.  
  
The two black suits popped out of the car before Harry had time to blink. Grabbing Hedwig's cage, Harry jumped out himself, welcoming the chance to stretch his legs.  
  
"Careful there, Mr. Potter," one of the black suits told him, taking Hedwig's cage from him.  
  
"I'm alright, thanks," he replied, before promptly tripping, falling flat on his face. His glasses fell off, and Harry could hear the faint clink! of glass. He sighed.  
  
"Mr. Potter! Are you alright??" Harry couldn't be sure, but he could've sworn that yet a third black suit came running up to him, yanking him up gently by his collar and setting him upright.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine....don't move! Where are my glasses??" he asked worriedly. He got down on all fours, patting the ground for them, as he couldn't see anything in the dark. Hitting something solid, round and smooth, he clutched it in his fist and stood up. He sighed as he pocketed the item - he'd have to remember that spell Hermione used to fix things once he got to his room.  
  
"Here they are, Mr. Potter," a black suit said, putting his glasses -- whole and unbroken -- on his face.  
  
Confused, Harry patted his pocket, wondering what the item was he had just pocketed. "Er...thanks," he said. He'd find out later, when it wasn't so dark.  
  
The black suit nodded, then beckoned Harry to follow him. Now that he could see again, Harry noticed 3 more black suits had joined the other 2 already escorting him from this morning, one hardly distinguishable from the other. Shaking his head, he followed them up to the castle, 2 ahead of him, 3 behind, forming a line as if in the army. The wonders would never cease -- if only the Dursleys could see him now! He giggled, imagining what their reaction would be to see their "throwaway" nephew being escorted around like....like he was the Minister of Magic!  
  
They entered the Great Hall. Inside, Harry could see a few more people lingering around. Amazingly enough, these people weren't wearing black suits. Instead, they wore normal sweaters, jeans, boots and other Muggle clothing Harry could easily identify. He didn't understand it. The whole lot of them could easily be overlooked in passing, their clothing and general appearance were that nondescript. What was going on?  
  
"Ah, Harry!" a deep, old voice cried. Harry turned to see Professor Dumbledore sweeping up the length of the Hall, Professors Snape and McGonagall not far behind. Snape, per usual, had a sour look on his face. McGonagall looked a bit worried. Dumbledore, however, looked extremely pleased.  
  
"I see you made the trip safely," he said, patting Harry on the shoulder.  
  
Harry nodded respectfully. "Yes sir. It was an interesting ride."  
  
Dumbledore smiled still more. "Good, good. Well, you must be tired--"  
  
"He slept almost the whole way here, sir," the black suit from this morning interrupted, looking a bit worried. Dumbledore frowned.  
  
"Well, it's late and he still needs his rest. No doubt, he's had enough adventures for one day," Dumbledore replied firmly. Turning his attention back at Harry he said: "Your luggage will be waiting for you in your room."  
  
"Please sir," Harry began, feeling a bit foolish as all eyes in the room turned to him. "Why the rush? I've stayed at the Dursleys before -- not that I mind leaving them early," he added hastily, "but why was I called here in the middle of the summer?"  
  
"All will be explained in due time, Harry," Dumbledore explained in his usual calm manner. "For now, I must escort you to your room and let you get some sleep. It's late, and I have a lot of business to take care of before the school year starts."  
  
"Yes, sir," Harry mumbled, feeling a bit deflated.  
  
Dumbledore gestured to a black suit, but Snape spoke up. "I'll take him to his room, Professor. I don't doubt one of these dolts getting lost inside the castle," he added nastily.  
  
Harry, Professor McGonagall and the rest of the people in the room looked at Snape with some surprise. Even Dumbledore had a faint look of shock. "Alright, Severus," he finally agreed with some reluctance.  
  
Snape gave Harry a nasty look, then swept down the Hall, clearly expecting him to follow him. Harry got a look at the professor's face as he passed him. He couldn't be sure, but Harry could've sworn that Snape was sweating. And looking extremely nervous. It was by far the oddest thing Harry had ever seen. Aside from Mad-Eye Moody, he didn't think he'd ever seen Snape look the slightest bit nervous or uncomfortable before. He was usually too busy making everyone else uncomfortable!  
  
"Bringing them here to Hogwarts this year....the most preposterous thing I'd ever heard....Death Eaters will be swarming all over the place in a minute....maybe a dementor or two.....all these students here....not safe, not safe at all, no matter what Dumbledore thinks..."  
  
Harry's ears perked up. Death Eaters? Dementors? His body went cold at the thought. He'd had enough of dementors in his 3rd year. He wasn't anxious to repeat the experience.  
  
"Harry Potter! Have you been listening to me??" Snape snapped.  
  
"What?" Harry said, caught off-guard.  
  
Snape gave him an evil look. "I said, you mind your whereabouts, Mr. Potter," he repeated coldly, "out of all the years you've undoubtedly gotten yourself into heaps of trouble -- most of which I've had the unhappy task of not expelling you for -- this is most assuredly NOT the year you want to go around playing the hero. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Harry answered quietly. He was too tired to make a fuss, and acting up with Snape -- as he'd learned over his past years at Hogwarts -- would only make things worse for him. Harry was determined to not get detention before his first day even started - it would be a new record, even for him.  
  
Satisfied, Snape nodded curtly. "Good. Then I'll leave you to your rest." With that, he swept down the hall again, black robes swishing loudly behind him.  
  
Harry sighed and climbed through the already-open portrait of the Fat Lady -- sound asleep -- into the Gryffindor Common Room. It was strangely quiet. Harry hurried up the stairs to his old room he shared with Neville, Ron and Seamus. Spotting his trunk, he quickly got out a pair of pajamas to wear, and began to change.  
  
"What the....?" his hand hit something hard. Then he remembered the object he'd found outside. Taking it out, he took it closer to his bedside candle to take a closer look.  
  
"Wow!" he breathed, examining the smooth red stone. It gleamed in the light, red pulsating beneath the surface. It had the uncomfortable likeness to blood, but other than that, it was very beautiful. Harry wondered why -- there was nothing outwardly remarkable about it, except that it was big, round and red. Shrugging, Harry buried the stone beneath the rest of his clothes in his trunk. He didn't want anyone else to see it and ask questions he wasn't yet ready to answer. "All in due time," Dumbledore had said. Harry had to agree with him.  
  
He blew out his candle and hopped into bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. 


End file.
